The spectators seemed not to realize what had happened.
Then, slowly, like a giant jet plane accelerating down a runway, the murmurs among the England supporters grew louder and louder before finally exploding into countless joyous shouts.
"England has won!" Bagman shouted. "Under the protection of Lewis Green, the youngest player in Quidditch World Cup history, England's Bryce Parkin has caught the Golden Snitch!"
Hermione waved both hands, completely forgetting about her elegant outfit today. She jumped up and down, clapping and cheering, her cheeks flushed and her eyes shining with excitement. She had been deeply moved by Lewis's outstanding performance.
"Lewis was amazing! But those Irish Beaters were way too ruthless. I was really worried about Lewis just now... He didn't consider his own safety at all."
Cho Chang was cheering loudly as well.
But when she remembered the moment Lewis had been struck, she could not help feeling a little worried.
"You know, Cho, someone like Lewis gets up every morning and the first thing he does is cover himself in enhancement spells. I still have no idea how many buffs he has on himself every day. A mere Bludger can't really hurt him."
Hearing Cho's words, Hermione calmed herself down and analyzed the situation seriously.
She had received one-on-one training from Lewis before, so when it came to this aspect, hardly anyone understood him better than she did.
Petals of roses drifted down from Luna's head.
The dreamy look in her eyes gradually returned to normal, revealing deep delight.
She put away the dazed expression she had worn while watching the match and instead broke into a cheerful smile.
Under Onyxia's command, England's mascots—the dragons—soared and tumbled through the sky above the pitch.
Their appearance sent the entire stadium into a frenzy.
Roses were waved everywhere, while the English national anthem rang out from every direction.
As the players rode their brooms around the stadium, a rain of rose petals began falling from the sky.
The beautiful petals drifted down like flowers scattered by heavenly maidens, enveloping the entire away ground in a dreamlike romantic atmosphere.
The supporters plucked roses from their own clothes and threw them toward the players they admired.
Cho Chang eagerly reached up to take the red peony from her hair, but before she could throw it—
When Lewis actually rode his broom past her, she became so nervous that she completely forgot the gesture she had planned beforehand.
She could only stand there foolishly and wave.
As Lewis gradually disappeared into the distance after completing his lap around the stadium, the spectators applauded and cheered, expressing their admiration and respect for the players.
Amid the jubilant atmosphere, Cho suddenly noticed Luna standing beside her.
Her neck was completely bare.
The roses that had originally adorned it had long since disappeared.
"Luna really is lucky. It's almost enviable," Cho could not help sighing.
"What are you envious of?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"I saw Lewis catch the flower she threw!"
Cho bit her lip, a hint of unwillingness in her heart.
At the mention of this, Hermione's expression also became somewhat unpleasant.
Like Cho and the other young witches, she had only been holding a single carefully selected rose.
When Lewis had made his lap around the stadium, they had all been overwhelmed by the excitement of the match and forgotten this important detail.
Luna, however, had actually brought an entire bouquet of roses.
When Lewis rode past her, she had thrown the bouquet into the air without hesitation.
Cho had watched helplessly as Lewis caught one of the roses in midair and then blew Luna a kiss.
That gesture caused the other young witches to imitate her one after another, throwing all the flowers in their hands toward Lewis.
Lewis merely smiled in response, however.
He did not catch another flower from anyone.
The other young witches had no choice but to turn their attention toward the other players.
Afterward, Cho finally realized something.
"But her outfit today... it's really astonishing." Cho did not know how to describe Luna's clothing for a moment.
Even she would have found it difficult to care so little about other people's opinions and judgments.
"Perhaps she's smarter than we thought."
Hermione thoughtfully looked at Luna.
Cho felt that these top students and geniuses could sometimes be truly impossible to understand.
For example, Shirella was obviously a witch, yet she planned to become a hunter.
Penelope clearly did not like fighting, yet she was determined to become an Auror.
And then there was Luna, who was always doing things no one could predict.
Their actions often seemed incomprehensible, yet they appeared to conceal some deeper meaning.
"Look at what she's wearing. The low-necked corset and the raised ruff collar are typical of the aesthetic style of Elizabeth I's era. During that period, England conquered the entirety of Ireland. It undoubtedly represents England's victory, just as England's team became the champions on the pitch today."
Hermione immediately understood the symbolism behind Luna's clothing and pursed her lips as she explained.
"Wisdom is humanity's greatest treasure."
Penelope, who had been standing nearby and watching the three girls compete for attention, stepped forward and reminded them.
Her eyes revealed her appreciation and approval of Luna.
At that moment, Cho noticed Luna turn around and glance at her.
There was an indescribable meaning in her eyes.
Then Luna walked away gracefully, as though she were attending a ball.
"Ah, I remember now!"
Cho suddenly realized it.
"When Luna was looking for clues about magical creatures, she borrowed my history book. She knows about this history. How did I only realize it now?"
Cho was somewhat annoyed by how slow she had been to catch on.
Compared with the frenzied atmosphere among the England supporters, the Irish stands looked like crops beaten down by frost.
They were utterly silent.
The Leprechauns all looked dejected and miserable, like a field of wheat swept by an autumn wind.
"I think they fought very bravely."
Terry rubbed his cheeks.
He believed that Ireland's Chasers and Beaters were all world-class.
It was simply that Lewis and Shirella were too strong.
Ron absentmindedly grabbed the gold coins in his pocket, then let them scatter through his fingers again.
He desperately tried to recall the match, searching for something he could use to criticize Lewis.
But after thinking it over and over, he could not find anything he could make up.
He had reasons for thinking that way.
And after today, he had gained yet another reason—
Hermione's true appearance.
But precisely because of that, Ron felt even more uncomfortable.
Today, he had finally seen Hermione dressed up properly.
Ron had never realized that his friend since first year was actually so beautiful.
He had simply never noticed!
And throughout this entire term, he and Hermione had been arguing over Lewis.
It was that annoying Lewis Green again!
Fortunately—
There were still the gold coins!
These ignorant young wizards were destined to be thoroughly tricked by the Leprechauns' gold.
Meanwhile, inside England's changing room, the players celebrated their victory before going off to clean themselves up after sweating through the match.
Only Lewis and Shirella remained behind, walking at the very end.
Shirella watched Lewis seriously cast protective magic over the white rose in his hand.
She could not help pouting.
"Leading the team to defeat Ireland and gaining so many female fans, huh? Which new girl gave you another flower?"
"What new girl? It was Luna's flower."
Lewis casually defended himself.
Seeing that Lewis was still carefully tending to the flower, Shirella snorted.
"Quite a few people threw flowers at me today too... Fine. Next time, I'm going to keep one as well."
Hearing this, Lewis raised his head.
The female hunter was sitting with her arms crossed, her back turned toward him.
He could not help chuckling.
He moved closer and asked, "Are you angry?"
Shirella turned her head away and ignored him.
But Lewis's psychic abilities allowed him to read the indignation in her heart.
"It was me. I was first. Obviously, I was first... Whether it was fighting side by side, becoming close, or winning the World Cup..."
There was a distinct feeling of betrayal in her heart.
It was as though the two of them had worked hard together to build something great, only for Lewis to turn around and use that success to pursue younger girls.
Lewis found it amusing.
He simply sat down beside her and looked at her body, drenched in sweat from the intense exercise.
Her sportswear was soaked through and clung to her body, outlining her graceful figure.
Lewis's throat suddenly moved.
A spark of heat ignited within him.
Shirella noticed that Lewis had been silent for a long time.
Disappointed, she turned around, wanting to see what this heartless man was doing.
Instead, the boy suddenly picked her up and carried her toward the changing area.
"Hey, hey! What are you doing? I'm covered in sweat!"
"It doesn't matter. This is the sweat of a hard-earned victory. It's precious."
"Then... something this precious has to be mine first..."
"Hmph! You pervert!"
Immediately afterward, the changing room was enveloped in a soundproofing spell.
In short, the jealousy that had just risen in Shirella was transformed into a lament over her own lack of strength.
Lewis had once again settled the conflict between the girls.
A cause for celebration.
The professors at Hogwarts certainly were not going to cancel the final examinations just because Lewis and the others had won the Quidditch World Cup.
The weather grew hotter and hotter, while the young wizards preparing for their examinations became increasingly anxious, especially the older students who were about to graduate.
Exam week began.
The castle was unusually quiet.
At lunchtime on Monday, the third-year students emerged from the Transfiguration examination room looking exhausted and pale.
They compared their results while complaining that the questions had been far too difficult.
One of the tasks had been to transform a teapot into a tortoise.
Hermione made a huge fuss over the fact that the tortoise she had transformed looked like a piece of pottery, irritating everyone around her.
From their perspective, this was nothing more than a top student showing off.
For the Charms examination, Professor Flitwick tested them on the Cheering Charm.
In Lewis's Book of Ten Thousand Spells, this spell was classified under the Enchantment school.
For someone possessing the [Mind Control] specialty, it was one of the easiest spells to use.
All of his Enchantment spells could be cast through his psychic abilities.
Lewis did not even recite the incantation.
He merely snapped his fingers and made every young wizard in the classroom, including those waiting for their turn, burst into laughter.
Several students nearly failed their examinations because of it.
Judging from Professor Flitwick's expression, Lewis's grade in that subject was certainly going to be zero.
The next morning, Hagrid presided over the Care of Magical Creatures examination.
With Lewis's help, Hagrid's teaching had been a huge success throughout the term.
Naturally, he did not give up on himself and become a teacher who only focused on Flobberworms.
His final examination required students to replace a Bowtruckle's habitat tree.
They had to accomplish the task without angering the creature or getting attacked by the Bowtruckle.
Several young wizards tried to force the Bowtruckles to change trees by burning the trees down.
They did successfully complete the task.
Then they received failing grades.
But this posed absolutely no difficulty for Lewis.
After all, ever since he became a druid, the Bowtruckles had all become his devoted followers.
That afternoon, they took their Potions examination.
Although Snape's questions were, as usual, extremely difficult, they posed no challenge whatsoever to a master capable of refining and freely modifying permanent Attribute Potions.
During the examination, Snape, who was serving as an invigilator, did not even bother to patrol around Lewis's desk.
There were also Astronomy, History of Magic, Arithmancy, Herbology, and several other subjects.
The most interesting examination was Defense Against the Dark Arts.
It was an outdoor examination held under the sunlight, resembling an obstacle course.
The students had to wade through a pond containing Grindylows, make their way through a series of pits filled with Red Caps, trudge through a marsh without being misled by the false directions given by a Hinkypunk, and then climb inside an old trunk and fight a new Boggart.
Naturally, a few amusing incidents were unavoidable during the examination.
When Hermione finished, Lewis noticed that she looked unexpectedly flustered.
"What did you see in the final stage?" Lewis asked curiously.
Hermione had never told him what her Boggart would transform into.
"It was Pro... Professor McGonagall!" Hermione gasped. "She—she said I had failed every single examination!"
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